The last issue of The Quilt Life will be the October 2014 issue. Alex and Ricky want to thank editor "supreme" Jan Magee and photographer Gregory Case for their excellent work. The magazine was a readers delight. Great themes, great stories, great quilts and great quilters.

Here are the covers NOT including the October Issue (which we haven't seen yet). Check out all the fun themes the magazine covered.

Robbie Joy Eklow brings together spirals, gears and amazing quilting in this stunning quilt. Robbie (Show 1008) put this aside for several years after dying all the fabric and then brought it out and finally finished it. "It's About Time".

At Paducah 2014, Thelma Childers displayed her quilt "Evening Bloom". Thelma learned hand applique and finished about one block a month. The quilt was quilted on a longarm by Judi Madsen. Judi use many designs to enhance the applique.

Be sure to move all around the quilt to see the different styles of quilting. Will some of these approaches work for your quilt?

While recently taping new episodes for The Quilt Show, we came across this wonderful exhibit, Northern California Inspirationsby the Studio Art Quilt Associates Northern CA/NV Region.

The exhibit reflects the visions of twenty Northern California textile artists as they interpret the physical and the ephemeral, the massive and the miniscule, through the medium of the art quilt. The diverse, visually rich region of Northern California where they live influences and inspires their art.

Here is a sampling of the group and modern quilts shown at Paducah this year. The quality is fantastic and the quilts are beautiful, fun and inspiring. Look for the detailed embellished quilt at the end of the slideshow.

Here's a look at the work of fiber artist, writer, and designer Wendy Mamattah, originally from Ghana, who shares her Africa-inspired silhouette and symbols quilts, as well as her charming one-of-a-kind pin cushions. The slideshow includes her Asabone patterns. Asabone in Ghana means wild dancing which is the name for her art quilt pattern series. According to Wendy, "This is a very normal way of entertaining in most African villages and is common practice."

Here are some more of the Distortion Winners. Please note that you can click on any picture and it will enlarge. It is not a zoom, but will make it easier to read the signs and see the quilts. Click once to enlarge a picture and once to reduce it back.

See more of the quilts from around the world representing "Distortion". There is a new challenge every year for the Patchwork Show in Alsace, France. This year will be the 20th anniversary of the show.

This slideshow is Part 1 as we share the winning quilts from a challenge by the European Patchwork Meeting in Alsace, France in 2013. The theme was "Distortion", the quilts were to be 1 square meter and here are the results. Part 2 and Part 3 will be on the blog Wednesday and Thursday.

You can see these quilts in person (you should if you can) at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY through June 24, 2014. It is the only place in the USA to see this collection.

While in Paducah, Captain John was captivated by Spirit created by Georgia Spaulding Pierce of Seattle, WA.

Click on the "magazine" to the left for a real close look at the quilting.

He invites you to take a closer look at the individual animals and the phenomenal quilting designs. There are whales tales, crabs, fish, mountains...all done in the quilting.

Click on the photo for the magazine approach or the Smilebox to take a closer look. (Be sure to click on the movement arrows to go from picture to picture on the Smilebox. This way the pictures will not change automatically.)